Parents urged to monitor children’s movement, remind them on road safety

KUALA LUMPUR: Parents should always monitor their children’s movements and remind them on road safety to avoid any untoward incidents, said chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He said fatal accidents involving children, such as in yesterday’s incident where a eight-year-old boy who was riding a bicycle was killed when knocked down by a garbage truck, could be avoided had all quarters play their respective role.

Lee also drew attention to an incident in Johor Bahru last year where eight cyclists, aged between 13 and 16, were killed when mowed down by a car in Jalan Lingkaran Dalam.

“In my opinion, parents or guardians now give unsupervised freedom to their young children and do not advise or impart to them (children) on road safety.

“Yesterday’s fatal accident happened because of several factors, including failure of parents to supervise or monitor their children and uncaring society.

“A concerned individual who sees a child riding a bicycle in a dangerous manner or on risky road should tell off the child that it is dangerous,” he said when contacted by Bernama Bernama